Writing: 1 hour
I went home for a day last weekend, and it was interesting to look at my house now that I've spent so much time on this project. It was a short trip, but I did take some photographs while I was there. I was kind of wary about drawing from photographs, but I really enjoyed drawing all the shadows. When I was taking the photographs, I realized that certain areas of the house felt more important to me. I really loved photographing different angles of the stairs and of my bedroom upstairs. I was also drawn to the back entrance of my house. I think those areas hold more of my everyday memories than the rest of the house.
I also played around with another possibility for text. I used a set of rubber stamps to print this short letter. I'm not sure how I feel about this, but it is nice to see some text that is actually legible.
I really enjoyed the trip the museum, particularly the Whistler exhibit. His etchings and drypoints were beautiful, and I really loved the contrast he achieved through line.
Unfortunately, I didn't get as much work done this week as I wanted because I got sick, but I'm feeling better, and I'm excited to do more drawings. I also want to print some monotypes, and then start a large etching.
Like Janie, I really enjoyed reading the poem you posted last week, and I like this new piece of text as well. To me, the parts of both texts that worked the best, both in themselves and in relation to the images, are the parts most filled with concrete details. The drawings of sports cars here are exactly the kind of thing you're not showing us in the drawings, and the same goes for the last stanza of "Dear Cassie," with the fan click and the morning light. They're very specific, physical things, and it's effective also that they don't precisely relate to the drawings. I mean, I wouldn't want to see a fan while I'm reading about it; I like the distance between the drawings and the images, between the place and the memories. But it works best at its most concrete.
ReplyDeleteHow are you working on the poems as you work on the images? I think you could distill the text a bit further down to the really telling imagery, in the same way (sort of) you're doing to the drypoint plate. Like I say, this new text works really well.
That said, while I like rubber-stamp lettering for its own sake, I think it's kind of outside the visual style you've set up already with the drypoint. I don't know how well they relate. How much visual presence do you want the text to have? If you want the text to have some physicality to it, but not that much--to keep it fairly neutral--then just using an old-fashioned typewriter can be a good solution, especially on nice paper like velvet fine art stock.
Hi Chrissy! I just wanted to comment as well. I think the selection of text you have thus far is really thought-provoking. There's a sort of sorrowfulness to them and with the ambiguous rooms you are creating, I think the pairing works really well. I agree with Seth that it's a definite strength that the text does not mirror what the viewer is seeing in the image. Additionally, what I really wanted to mention is that it seems like your drawings are taking on a very different mood. My reaction is entirely different to these drawings (as opposed to your earlier ones) because of all the light. Is this intentional or simply experimentation? Do you want viewers to experience a particular feeling? Great work!!!
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